Columbia, Mo. – Senior pitcher Olivia Galati threw a complete-game five-hit shutout and scored a run and fellow senior Tessa Ziemba broke open a deadlock with a two-run double to deep center in the fifth to lift Hofstra to a 2-0 victory in the opener of the NCAA Columbia Regional on Friday afternoon at Missouri's University Field.
Galati picked up her sixth shutout in her last seven starts and is 4-0 in her last four appearances in the NCAA Regional round after striking out five while not allowing a walk. Hofstra will now play the winner of the Missouri-Stony Brook matchup at 1 p.m. Eastern on Saturday in the winner's-bracket matchup of the double-elimination regional. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 and can be heard on WRHU (88.7 FM) and through Pride Zone.
Hofstra (44-11) won for the 14th consecutive time and has been victorious in 41 of the last 44 games. Hofstra defeated a Pac-12 member in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season (after beating UCLA last season) as the Beavers fell to 33-23 and will play the loser of the No. 6 overall seed Mizzou and Stony Brook game at 2:30 p.m.
Marina Demore gave Oregon State a chance to win, holding Hofstra scoreless through the first four innings and striking out one. Hofstra and Oregon State had never played each other before today.
Galati and Demore engaged in a pitcher's duel that kept the game scoreless into the bottom of the fifth. Hofstra then made the first move with three straight base hits and Ziemba opened the scoring with a clutch two-run double that went just over centerfielder Lea Cavestany's head.
Galati singled to left and senior Becca Bigler followed by pulling a first-pitch single to left to put the first two runners on for the top of the order. Freshman Chloe Fitzgerald, the slap-hitting leadoff hitter, chopped a ball the other way that OSU third baseman Desiree Beltran made a diving play on to keep it to a leadoff single.
With the bases loaded and none out, Demore got a pop out before Ziemba lifted a deep fly ball to center that eluded Cavestany's out-stretched glove. Galati and Bigler raced around to score with Fitzgerald trailing. Two runs scored before Fitzgerald was tagged out at the plate, though Hofstra still took the 2-0 edge to the sixth.
Ziemba has a team-high 47 RBIs and now has multi-RBI effort in five of the last seven games. Ziemba went 2-for-3 and Fitzgerald was the only Hofstra player with a two-hit game in going 2-for-3.
Galati retired the final 11 batters to close out the win in improving to 38-10 while notching her Division I-leading 21st shutout. She continues to lead the nation in strikeouts and now has 379 on the season.
Lea Cavestany started the game with a single up the middle. But Oregon State couldn't muster anything more as Galati settled down, inducing a fly out to left before Bigler caught a line drive and fired to first for the inning-ending double play.
The Beavers put two more runners on in the second thanks to singles from Natalie Hampton an Christine Langlois. Galati struck out her first two batters of the game and forced Ally Kutz to fly out to strand the base-running pair.
Demore also showed a propensity for pitching out of dangerous situations, getting around a two-walk inning by getting two fly out and a ground out to keep the contest scoreless heading to the top of the third.
Hofstra put two runners on for a second consecutive inning in the next frame when Fitzgerald and Ziemba each hit singles. Demore (20-12) forced sophomore Erin Trippi to fly out to medium-deep left field to strand two.
Oregon State generated a base-runner for the fourth consecutive inning when Desiree Beltran was hit by a pitch and Langlois singled down the leftfield line to put two on with one. Following a sacrifice bunt, Galati once again left two on base with a pop out to Tori Rocha at second.
